Why America is laughing at Australia

AUSTRALIA has become a laughing stock in the States all because of one embarrassing incident on the sporting field over the weekend.

AUSTRALIA has become a laughing stock in the States all because of one embarrassing incident in the A-League over the weekend.

And fair enough.

Sydney FC defender Seb Ryall’s ridiculous dive, which somehow resulted in a penalty for his side against Melbourne Victory, has caught the attention of ESPN funny man Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann took the mickey out of referee Strebre Delovski, featuring him in his “World’s Worst Person in Sports” segments after he inexplicably pointed to the spot when Ryall dramatically fell to the ground without being touched.

Watch the incident and Olbermann’s reaction in the video above

Referee Strebre Delovski (centre) gets between the Sydney and Melbourne players as tempers flare.

“Working the Australian A-League match between Sydney and Melbourne Saturday, Delovski appears to have been fooled by one of the worst flops in the history of sports,” Olbermann said.

“That or he sees ghosts.”

Making matters worse, Ryall was later cleared of simulation at an FFA disciplinary committee hearing.

The three-man panel delivered the not guilty verdict after deliberating for less than 10 minutes.

Sydney FC showed previously unseen footage to the panel from an alternative angle showing Ryall had himself clipped the leg of Victory midfielder Gui Finkler as he ran into the box.

The 25-year-old Ryall even admitted after the game that it wasn’t a penalty but argued he never set out to dive in the box and deceive the officials.

Watch the vision that cleared Ryall in the video below

How did Seb Ryall get away with it?

“As I ran towards him I was looking down at the ball and I felt contact and went down,” Ryall said.

“I thought it was a penalty ... I put my arms out because I felt contact and at the time I thought it was a foul.

“I couldn’t know that it wasn’t ... I didn’t clip my own ankle.”

Ryall said his reaction after Delovski pointed to the spot — when he tapped Finkler on the back of the head — was simply a case of being caught up in the heat of the moment.

“I was running through on goal and he stopped me from scoring. I was angry,” he said.

Originally published as Why America is laughing at Australia